Christmas Gift Finally Arrives in August

A Harwinton family contacted NBC Connecticut Responds when their online order never arrived. 

William Ponte loves sneakers and follows a number of shoe accounts on Instagram. So when he saw an ad for a custom shoebox last December, he knew what he wanted for Christmas.

"I wanted something to put all my shoes in and I thought that would be perfect and it would look cool in my room," he said.

William’s mother was skeptical.

"I didn't want to buy it. I didn't feel that I could trust a person through Instagram. But he wore me down and I did it. I was all he asked for for Christmas," Theresa Ponte said.

She paid $245 and was told the box would arrive in six to eight weeks.

When the end of March arrived with no updates from the seller, both William and Theresa reached out. They say the seller, who lives in Ohio, gave them a number of excuses but promised the box was on its way.

"I kept seeing that she was making new things on that Instagram post and I would comment, how are you making this if you haven't made my son's and she'd take my comment off," Theresa said.

Theresa disputed the charge with her credit card company, which reversed the charges. The seller told the Pontes she would send the box anyway.

As the months went by, Theresa became increasingly frustrated. She called NBC Connecticut Responds in June.

Our consumer team contacted the seller and informed her of the law outlined by the Federal Trade Commission.

It says, “If the seller is unable to ship within the promised time, it must notify you, give a revised shipping date and give you the chance to cancel for a full refund or accept the new shipping date.”

The seller assured NBC Connecticut Responds the box would ship on July 7. Then she told us it would go out on Friday, July 15. Finally on August 1, Theresa Ponte received a tracking number. The box arrived on August 4.

William said the box is pretty cool but is a lower quality he was expecting. It arrived with a screw sticking out and problem with the drawer. It was also missing a size sticker.

William said after this experience, he’ll only buy from established companies.

The seller did not respond to our repeated requests for comment.

NBC Connecticut Responds also reached out to Instagram, but did not hear back.

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